Christmas with the Chases
by hunterofartemis
Summary: Percy, Thalia and Grover go to Annabeth's house for Christmas, but along the way they have to deal with monsters...in downtown Chicago! Annabeth does some monster expressmailing, too. She comes to terms with her family. Mild Percabeth. K to be safe.
1. My Best Friend Gets Her Pilot's License

Chapter 1: My Best Friend Gets Her Pilot's License (Percy's POV)

The first thing I did on the first day of winter break was check for ancient monsters in the alley behind my new house.

Satisfied there was no threat, I let myself in through the front door. Since I knew my mom wouldn't come home for three hours, I crashed out on the couch with a bag of blue tortilla chips and a Coke. I flicked the switch on the television and turned to CNN. Anderson Cooper's face appeared on the screen.

"There was a sighting of a World War Two-era Sopwith Camel fighting plane flying over Mount Tam in San Francisco, piloted by a teenager. Witnesses claim the plane was struck by lightning but came out of a cloud undamaged…mass hallucination or not?"

That would be my best friend, Annabeth Chase, flying her dad's Sopwith Camel near her house. And the lightning bolt…that would be her grandfather, Zeus.

Haven't I told you? My friends and I all are children of the ancient Greek gods. My dad's Poseidon the sea god, Annabeth's mom is Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, and my friend Thalia's dad is Zeus, ruler of the gods. My Cyclops half-brother, Tyson, is also a son of Poseidon, and my friend Grover is a satyr.

We all go to a special camp for half-bloods during the summer. Well, Thalia used to…but now she's a hunter of Artemis. You know, those immortal girls who spend their free time shooting innocent little bunnies? Yup, she joined them a while ago.

Anderson Cooper continued talking. "There is flooding in the Pacific Northwest…New England is in the middle of a snowstorm…"

I looked outside. Three feet of snow—I _love _New York that way. Snowball fights are awesome.

"The European Union met yesterday in Geneva…" Blah, blah, blah. Remind me why I care about that, will you?

The phone rang.

I checked the caller I.D. "Chase, Frederick." That was Annabeth's dad's phone I.D.…Annabeth must be calling! I grabbed the phone and pressed Talk.

"What's up, wise girl?" I asked her.

"I was wondering if you want to come here for Christmas. Grover and Thalia are coming, too," Annabeth added, as if I wouldn't want to come otherwise.

"I'll have to ask my mom," I said, "but I sure hope I can come. We haven't seen each other for ages."

"Yeah, Seaweed Brain, I—I really want—" Annabeth broke off. "I have to go, Kelp Face."

"Um…okay." I said. "See you soon."

The line clicked. I hung up and immediately dialed my mom's cell phone number. She picked up after three rings.

"Hi, honey," she said. "Is something the matter?"

I related Annabeth's invitation to her.

"Go ahead, Percy. I'm sure you'll have a great time; after all, you haven't seen your friends for a while. And I'll be fine—Mr. Blowfish is coming over for Christmas. I'll be home in a little while—do you want me to bring some blueberry sour sticks from the store for you?"

I felt a flicker of irritation at the mention of the man I had dubbed Blowfish. "Sure, mom. That would be great. See you."

I hung up and punched the air. I was going to Annabeth's for Christmas! I was going to see my friends again!

I dialed Annabeth's number as fast as my fingers could punch the keys.


	2. I Maim Two DoortoDoor Salesmen

Chapter 2: I Express-Mail Two Door-to-Door Salesmen (Annabeth's POV)

I couldn't sit still. My three best friends (Luke had been demoted to evil, undead creep a while ago) were arriving today! They would be staying for two weeks.

"Annabeth, honey," my stepmom chided me. "Don't bounce around."

"Sorry, mom. I'll go upstairs to do my homework."

As I headed towards the stairs, my brother Bobby barreled into me, knocking me onto my back.

"Sorry," he said, his foot in my face.

"It's okay," I mumbled, even though I hadn't really cared to know what his sock tasted like.

I was knocked down a second time by Matthew. I managed to avoid a taste test of his sneaker and ran up the stairs before a third mishap could occur.

I reached my room and plunked down on my bed. I surveyed the mess my bedroom had gotten into over the weekend.

Normally, I'm a very neat person (unlike _some _certain sons of the Sea God I could mention) and my bedroom usually is impeccable. But if a equals excitement, b equals annoying stepbrothers, c equals holiday season stress and y equals the result, I would have to say y ac + b. Yup, I wrote an equation. (It's a linear equation, by the way; my favorite kind.) I need to do stuff like that to organize my thoughts.

I halfheartedly began to stack the books on my shelves neatly.

A few minutes after I had organized my Ancient Greek Architecture books, the doorbell rang.

"Anna, can you get the door, please?" my father called from his workroom across the hall.

I was already down the stairs.

"Hey, guys!" I cried as I opened the door.

It was two door-to-door salesmen from Hesperides Garden Landscape Designers. My face fell. My friend's weren't here yet.

"Anna! Who is it?" my stepmom called from the kitchen.

"Salesmen," I yelled, turning my head back. That was my fatal mistake.

The grayish, skeleton-like monsters held a knife to my throat. "I—what—"

"Tell them to go away," my stepmom called.

"Sure…" I croaked, trying to reach my celestial bronze dagger without being seen. _Athena, grant me skill in this fight. Give me wisdom so I may know my enemies' next move. _Quick as a flash, I grabbed my dagger and sank it into one of my captors. It made a dent—but the monster was unperturbed. It advanced on me and I backed up till I hit the front door.

Trapped.

_ Um, Mom, now would be a good time. _I slashed and parried as well as I could with my dagger, managing to fend off the blows for a minute.

Suddenly the phrase _Find your enemy's weakness and use it against him_ popped into my head. Thank you, thank you, Athena! I knew what their weakness was—killing and maiming. All I had to do was show them a couple people supposedly to kill and lure them into the truck.

"Hey! Look! More people to kill!" I screamed, pointing towards an ancient pair of grandparents on the sidewalk. "Killing! Maiming! Injuring! Fun!"

The skeletons' heads turned. Slowly, they began to advance towards the two people…and the Hesperides Landscaping truck incidentally was in their path. I pulled the truck doors open and shoved the monsters inside with a sudden burst of strength. For good measure, I stuck them both with my dagger before slamming and locking the doors. I wiped my dagger in the grass and ran inside to grab a Hermes Overnight Express packing slip. Quickly, I wrote a little message to the Lord of the Dead: "Lord Hades, Throne Room, Tartarus, the Underworld. Meaning no disrespect, I just don't know what to do with these monsters. With best wishes, Annabeth Chase, daughter of Athena." I stuck the slip on the truck and dropped three drachmas on top. The truck disappeared with a _pop! _

I had just sent two monsters to the Lord of the Dead. That is really going to tick him off.


	3. I Buy A Christmas Present For Zeus

Chapter 3: I Buy A Christmas Present For The King Of The Gods (Thalia's POV)

As I drove down the highway with two of my best friends bickering in the back seats, I stared at the sky.

No monsters following from the sky …No monsters following from the road…No monsters following in the car. Good.

I relaxed, listening to the beat of the alt-rock music I had blaring on the radio. As I changed lanes on the road, I glanced at the rear-view mirror and saw my own eyes staring back at me.

Even after months in the Hunters, I couldn't get used to my new appearance. My skin was silvery and my hair had turned darker. I looked way different with my hair braided into a bun. Less punkish, more…oh, I don't know. Medieval. Ancient Grecian. But what had changed the most were my eyes. They were more distant, more intense, and they seemed speckled with stars. Overall, my face frightened me a bit.

"Tha-lee-aaaa!" yelled Grover, breaking my train of thought. "Change the _channel! _No more alt rock—I want Hilary Duff!"

"Take a hike, goat boy," I said, turning up the volume.

"THALIA!" screamed Percy over the full-blast radio. "STOP THE ALT ROCK!"

People in the cars near us must think someone was getting murdered in here. Oh well. It was my car; I should be able to pick the channel if not the people riding in it. I said so to Percy.

Grover begged, "Thalia, turn it DOWN."

"My car, my channel," I repeated.

I nearly swerved when I saw Chicago coming up. "Percy! Let's go to Navy Pier! We can get presents!"

Seaweed Brain groaned. "Fine, Thalia. You're the boss." He pulled out a Twix King Size bar, broke it into thirds, and passed a piece each to Grover and me.

"Thanks." I pulled over into the parking lot while munching on the candy.

Five minutes later, we had split up and were searching for presents with seventy-five dollars each. Percy was in the Barnes and Noble across the street, searching for a book for Annabeth, Grover was with him, and I was in a clothing store, trying to find something nice for Artemis, my boss.

That was when I cam across the lightning tie. It was decorated with lightning bolts on a storm-gray background. _Dad would love this tie. And if I get him a present… maybe he'll actually acknowledge me. Pay attention. Praise me._

"Sixty dollars and fifty cents," said the clerk at checkout.

I snapped it up.

Later, we compared purchases.

Percy had gotten Annabeth a thick book on Greek Architecture, his mom a guide to writing books, Tyson a kid's book about blacksmiths, and Poseidon would get a book about the Greek gods portrayed in modern literature, speech, art and architecture and a SeaMonkey colony. No, he was not kidding. As for the presents he got Grover and me…he abstained from telling us what they were.

Grover got Annabeth a book on Greek calligraphy, Chiron _Archery for Dummies, _and other presents for Percy and me.

I got Annabeth a pair of owl earrings, Artemis a blue silk scarf, Zeus the tie, and presents for the others.

"Nice tie," cracked Percy.

"I hope it'll fit him," I worried.

"Chill, man." Grover attempted to make the peace sign, but instead saluted us Vulcan style.

And that was when we noticed the monsters.


End file.
